


broken (but not shattered)

by ephemeralmorgan



Series: all's well that ends well (to end up with you) [1]
Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Hawk has a lot to apologize for but so does Demetri, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Pre-Relationship, everyone who reads this ily, forgiveness is a balancing act, idk im bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephemeralmorgan/pseuds/ephemeralmorgan
Summary: Demetri and Hawk have some things to discuss, but that's easier said than done.
Relationships: Demetri/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Series: all's well that ends well (to end up with you) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152629
Comments: 18
Kudos: 75





	1. Aftermath I

The LaRusso home is utterly wrecked. Demetri's not surprised (there _had_ been an all-out karate brawl only an hour beforehand), but he hadn't realized the extent of the damage until just now. The walls are dented, paintings askew or completely shattered on the floor. Someone had clearly been fighting with mugs because there are broken ones everywhere and Demetri can't take one step without having to maneuver around shards of glass. And forget about any holiday decorations; the Christmas tree in the corner had toppled over at some point, most likely when Nate and Bert had been shoved into it, and the sparkling lights that had been strewn across everything are now only adding to the carnage on the ground. _At this point, there's more glass than floor,_ Demetri thinks, feeling a stab of sympathy for the LaRussos who would have to come home to this.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you need anything?"

Demetri glances up, realizing he'd been staring down at the wood tiles for who-knows-how-long. Sam's in front of him, carrying bandages and adhesive tape. When he looks over at where she'd been previously sitting with Miguel, he finds icepacks and a host of first-aid supplies on the ground. The other Miyagi Do-Eagle Fang students are sitting near Miguel too, helping each other. Nate is handing Bert band-aids for the array of cuts he'd gotten when Kyler had thrown him through the window, while also studying his own bruises (and nothing about this latest fight could be called _good_ , but at least their injuries are only skin-deep, especially considering how much bigger some of the Cobras are). Mitch is watching Chris press paper towels to his nose because Tory, who'd been on the warpath the second she caught sight of Sam, had kneed him there.

Speaking of Sam, there's blood on her mouth but Demetri supposes it could've been a lot worse since Tory had decided _nun-chucks_ were her weapon of choice this time. Mitch (Demetri absolutely _refuses_ to call him Assface or Penis Breath) glances over at him, pausing before giving Demetri a surprisingly friendly nod and Demetri remembers that when he'd been on the floor, it had been Mitch who'd tried to persuade him to get up, to keep fighting.

Tonight had been full of surprise allies, including...

"Demetri?" Sam's concerned voice breaks through his thoughts again and she's studying him with sharper eyes this time, clearly trying to decide if she should be offering him not just first-aid, but a ride to the hospital.

He hesitates for a moment, about to say _no_ until his eyes stray to the lone, tense figure standing by the front door. 

As epic as their reunion had been (and it had been epic, a moment that felt more like a scene in Doctor Who rather than something that had actually happened in Demetri’s life) he knows they need to really talk. Anxiety curls in his stomach, though. Now that the adrenaline from the fight is ebbing away, Demetri's realizing that he has no idea where they stand. Could their friendship even be fixed? How many times could something break before it shattered completely, pieces too small to glue back together? Much of the blame lay with Hawk but he'd done some messed up things too.

Sam follows his gaze and she seems too exhausted after everything that's happened to muster up any real anger at Hawk. For now, anyway. Demetri's sure they'll go at it when training starts up again, assuming Hawk even _wants_ to train with them.

"I...I have to go talk to him," he tells her. "I'll take some bandages, though, just in case it doesn't go over well."

Demetri tries to grin at Sam, but the way she presses her lips together lets him know that she doesn't find the joke very funny.

"Just...be careful," she finally says.

He nods and then she's walking back to Miguel, who reaches out to pull her down next to him again. Demetri heads toward Hawk, feeling nervous.

When he reaches the door, he hovers, unsure of what to say for perhaps the first time in his life. Hawk (Eli? Zuko? What's Demetri supposed to call him now?) turns to look at him.

"I think they're gone for good," Hawk informs him, voice muted and eyes downcast. Demetri hadn't even considered that Cobra Kai might return again that night. Or maybe it would be Kreese himself this time, the most terrifying person Demetri had ever met, coming to finish what his students had started.

It's not a nice thought.

When he looks back at Hawk, Demetri finds he's returned to glaring sullenly out the door. Trying to lighten the mood, he gently bumps his shoulder against Hawk's. "Hey, if they appear again, I _know_ we can take them. Kyler couldn't even win against Miguel and he was paralyzed only a few months ago."

Hawk tenses up, looking at Demetri with an unreadable expression, and Demetri's stomach drops. Had he misread things? Maybe Hawk had _only_ wanted to apologize, not rekindle whatever was left of their friendship.

"And," Demetri continues, forging ahead with words anyway because that's what he does best. "We made a pretty badass team."

Hawk is still staring at him with a blank expression. There's something flickering behind his eyes, though, and Demetri drops all pretense.

"Look, you really hurt me, and I don't only mean physically. But I can admit that I did some awful things too. I shouldn't have told everyone all of that stuff at Moon's party. And when I kicked you into the trophy case, I was so worried you wouldn't get up or that you would be seriously hurt."

Demetri realizes his voice is wobbling and his eyes are burning like he's about to cry. He swallows, trying to steady himself.

"You were my best friend and...I know it sounds crazy, but even after everything, I miss you so much-"

He's cut off by a soft sniffle. It's barely louder than a whisper, and Demetri wonders if it's coming from him. But then he catches sight of Hawk's face and his heart clenches.

The unreadable look is gone, replaced by a crumpled expression and red-rimmed eyes. For the second time that night, Demetri is stunned into silence.

"Demetri," Hawk's voice is shaking too, now. "I-"

Outside, a car door slams, making them both jump. _Kreese?!_ Demetri thinks wildly, wondering if his earlier thoughts had summoned him, but then Daniel's horrified face appears in the doorway.

"What happened?!" His eyes fall upon the wreckage, then on his students, before finally landing on Demetri and Hawk, who's gone from being on the brink of tears to fully crying. He stares at Daniel for a split second before suddenly pushing past him. Demetri tries to grab his hand but he's going too fast.

"Hawk! Wait!" Demetri doesn't like how high his voice is but he can't stop the worry from bleeding through. "...Eli!"

Hawk doesn't stop, though, and soon the darkness has swallowed him up.

For a moment, there's only silence and then Sensei LaRusso's hand is on Demetri's shoulder, his voice urgent.

"Demetri, what the hell happened? Are you alright?"

"...Cobra Kai showed up. You should, uh, talk to Sam and the others. I have to..." he gestures vaguely towards where Hawk disappeared.

Daniel hesitates, but ultimately lets go of him and makes a beeline for his daughter. Demetri breathes in and out, gathering himself for a few seconds, before taking off after Eli.


	2. Aftermath II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawk and Demetri work through some things and plan for the future.

Hawk has no idea where he’s going, which is probably why he doesn’t make it very far. He collapses onto the grass and pulls his knees up to his chest, pressing his face against them. Despite his best efforts, there are still tears rolling down his cheeks and muffled whimpers are escaping.

He’s supposed to be a _badass_ now! Crying is such an _Eli_ thing to do and Hawk had left Eli in the past a long time ago, or so he’d thought. He squeezes his eyes shut and presses his palms to his face. 

_Stopcryingstopcryingstopcryingstopfuckingcrying!_

But he can’t. The tears keep slipping out. It feels like he’s sinking under the weight of all his mistakes. Demetri had been trying to talk to him, had even been trying to fucking apologize, as if any of this was _his_ fault. Sure, Demetri had taken the low road sometimes, but only in retaliation against Hawk. Only because Hawk had pushed him to his breaking point. Demetri had tolerated years of Kyler’s bullying but only a few months of Hawk’s aggression had sent him straight to Daniel LaRusso, to Sam and Robby, to Miyagi-Do.

(And it really had only been a few months because Hawk hadn’t gone from Eli to…whatever he is now, overnight. He knows that. At first it had just been McConaughey vibes, and the exhilaration of his newfound confidence, and _finally_ making additional friends in Aisha and Miguel, and the addicting feeling of Moon being pressed against him, kissing him like his scar didn’t matter to her one bit).

That feels like lifetimes ago, though. Truthfully, his time as Hawk could be split into two groups: before vs after, and suddenly all he can think about is everything that happened after.

_Take it down or we take you down._

_…You’d actually hurt me?_

_I don’t watch nerd shit._

_That’s what I thought. Still a pussy._

_Demetri! Figured you’d hide in the computer lab, you damn nerd!_

_For you pansies, no place is safe._

There’s a snap behind him and the world lurches, bile rising in his throat. For a second he’s back at Golf ‘N Stuff, breaking Demetri’s arm.

_Eli! Eli, stop, it’s me!_

“Eli?”

Demetri’s voice startles him out of his spiraling. Hawk hears footsteps come toward him before stopping a few feet away. Demetri sucks in a breath, like he’s going to say something, and then…nada, zip, zilch.

Dead silence.

He shifts in the grass until he’s facing Demetri and wraps his arms around his knees. Even in the dark, he can see the uncertainty on Demetri’s face, like he has no idea what to say. In another situation, Hawk would’ve found this hilarious because Demetri can usually talk about anything and everything for _hours_ without stopping. He has opinions on every subject imaginable, from genuinely interesting topics (science and coding, although Hawk would never in a million years admit to still finding those things interesting) to ridiculously dumb shit (like whether pineapple deserves to be on pizza or why bottled water is better than tap water).

Their eyes meet and despite everything, Hawk grins at Demetri’s fish-out-of-water look. Demetri blinks, looking surprised at Hawk’s weak but real amusement, before opening his mouth like he’s going to try and speak again.

But Hawk knows that he has about a million things he needs to say first.

“Wait! Just…be quiet for a minute. I need to tell you something,” Hawk says, trying desperately to keep his voice firm.

Demetri closes his mouth, and Hawk sees his gaze linger on the obvious tear treks. He knows that his eyes are bloodshot and that his face is puffy, cheeks still wet from crying, but he tries not to focus on that.

“I…” He feels like he's suffocating, but the fucking words won’t come, like they’re lodged in his throat. “I’m…”

 _Don’t be such a goddamn pussy, spit it out_!

Hearing his stuttering, something in Demetri’s face softens. “Eli- “

“I’m sorry!” Hawk’s voice, already loud, sounds deafening in the oppressively silent darkness around them. Demetri starts, eyes widening.

“I’m sorry I abandoned you! I’m sorry for acting like I was embarrassed to be your friend, when I fucking shouldn’t have been. I’m sorry for destroying your project and for pouring beer on you, and I’m sorry for hunting you down at school. I’m sorry for not caring that Kreese hurt you and I’m so _fucking_ sorry for all of the times that _I_ hurt you!”

His chest is heaving and his voice is starting to crack. Tears are blurring his vision again and he roughly wipes at his eyes, trying to stop them from falling. It feels freeing to say all of that, like a weight has been lifted off his chest, but it also makes it _real_. Hawk had done all of that to his best friend, to the first and only friend he’d had for a long time.

Demetri is quiet and Hawk still has his face pressed into his hands. When nothing happens for a few long moments, it has him wondering if Demetri even listened to his apology, or if he’d decided it was as pathetic as Hawk himself was and had simply left him out here.

_Can’t fucking blame him for-_

And Demetri, who had apparently _not_ gone back inside, is suddenly plunking himself down next to Hawk. When Hawk looks at him, his face is still filled with uncertainty and a little bit of sadness that makes Hawk ache, but his eyes are soft. Demetri pauses before holding an arm out towards him questioningly. It’s awkward and endearing and so _Demetri_ , and Hawk’s stupid heart fills with hope.

He plasters himself against Demetri’s side, and Demetri curls a warm arm around him. They sit there for what feels like hours, Demetri eventually relaxing completely until his head is resting against Hawk’s. The mohawk must be poking his eye out but Demetri doesn’t seem to mind.

“It wasn’t just you,” His voice has Hawk sitting up from where his face had been pressed against Demetri’s chest. “I should have called you what you wanted to be called…no matter how ridiculous I thought it was.”

Hawk can’t help his snort and Demetri’s face brightens at the sound.

“And the ‘hawk is actually pretty cool, too,” he adds, studying it.

“Don’t get any ideas about copying me. Mohawks are _my_ thing,” Hawk tells him, narrowing his eyes playfully to cover up how embarrassingly happy he is to be joking around with Demetri again.

“Trust me, I won’t. The amount of hairspray you use to keep it up will probably make you bald by the time you’re Sensei LaRusso’s age,” Demetri says matter-of-factly and if his face is any indication, he’s about to launch into a long explanation about the connection between hairspray and male pattern baldness that Hawk really does not want to hear.

Hawk blinks and sputters at him, trying to get Demetri to shut up. “Hairspray does _not_ cause baldness, why the fuck would you _say_ that?”

Demetri has the audacity to start laughing at him and whatever tiny pinprick of annoyance Hawk may have felt fades away, only to be replaced by an overwhelming amount of fondness and utter _relief_. He waits for Demetri to stop snickering and then he’s scooting closer again until their shoulders are pressed together.

Demetri looks at him, his expression turning serious. “What are you going to do now that you’ve left Cobra Kai?”

What Hawk wants to do is join Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do, but he doubts the others would be as willing to hear him out as Demetri had been. And now he’s remembering all the other shit he pulled; blaming everyone in their dojo for Robby Keene’s mistake, stealing the Miyagi medal, allowing Kreese to talk him into trashing the place, beating up Nate and taking credit for the money they’d raised. At least he’d given it to Miguel.

The black hole of guilt is back and Hawk tries to avert his eyes, but Demetri seems to know exactly what he’s thinking about.

“Listen,” he starts. “You’ll have to apologize to everyone else, too, and…and it probably won’t be easy to build up trust. But if they can forgive Miguel, Bert, and Mitch, and vice-versa, then they can forgive you.”

“…You really believe that?” Hawk questions, hating how tiny his voice sounds, and Demetri nods.

They’re both quiet for a few minutes, breathing in the fresh air until Demetri suddenly stands up and holds his hand out.

“No time like the present,” he says, and he almost sounds fucking _cheerful_. “Let’s go talk to the others.”

“Wait, _now_? Like, right now?”

“Yes, right now! We need to help them clean up, anyways, after destroying their coffee table,” Demetri sighs, wincing.

When Hawk doesn’t immediately do anything, Demetri bends down and reaches for his hand, pulling him up too. “C’mon, dude. I know you’re worried but there’s no point in putting it off. You don’t have to have an essay-sized apology typed up and ready to go, you just need to be honest with them the way you were with me. And, uh…” Demetri looks down, cheeks turning pink (and hey, he's kind of cute when he's flustered. Who would have thought?) “I’ll be there the whole time to vouch for you. You know, if I need to.”

Fuck, Hawk doesn't deserve him at _all_ , or his friendship. How Demetri could still care about him was beyond Hawk. What he did know was that he’d never take Demetri for granted again, no matter what-

“After all, that’s what you do for your Binary Brother!”

Hawk blinks before whipping around to glare at Demetri, who takes off towards the bright house, cackling as he goes.

“Oh, hell no!” Hawk shrieks after him. “Do not start with that shit!”

But he can feel himself smiling helplessly, affection overtaking any irritation.

_I've gone soft. Again._

“Are you coming or not?!” Demetri’s standing by the front door, waiting for him. Still grinning, Hawk shakes his head fondly and steps into the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a few things I want to address:
> 
> 1) I wrote this with the idea that Hawk and Demetri would eventually get together, but I will not dismiss Moon. Jacob Bertrand said that Moon was his first love. He also said that there were moments we didn't get to watch (not sure if he meant they filmed more than we saw but didn't add them in because of time or if they happened just in the context of the show) and that Moon saw a different side of him, so I don't want to ignore that.
> 
> 2) I do not condone using the word pussy like that but..........you know.............that’s how the show is.
> 
> 3) I hope you enjoyed it! I haven't written anything in a long time and it probably shows but I'm pretty proud of this! I think I did okay :)


End file.
